Josias j



(No Model.)

J. J. SANDS.

BOTTLE STOPPER. No. 399.440; Patented Mar. 12, 1889.

- in and the holding-bar extended in place over UNrTn STATES PATENTOFFICE.

Jth'IAS J. SANDS, OF MERTON, WISCONSIN.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFCATION forning part of Letters Patent No. 399,440, dated March 12,1889.

Application filed December l 8, 18884 To all whom it may cocern:

Be it known that I, JOSIAS J. SANDS, of Merton, in the county ofXVaukesha and State of isconsin, ha Ve invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bottle-Stoppers; and I do hereby deciare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the acconpanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which 'orn a part of this specification.

This invention relai cs to devices forretaining corks or other stoppersin bottles or in the orifices of other vessels; and it consists,essentially, in a longitudinally expansible and contractible bar orholder composed of two parts adapted to move one upon the other, inconbination with a bottle or other vessel provided with oppositeshoulders in the neek or orifice for engagement with the ends of thestopper-holding bar.

In the accoinpanying lra\\'ings, Figure] is a perspective View of thetwo-part har collapsed or Shortened. Fig. 2 a similar 'View of theholding-bar extended. Fig. 3 isa top View ot' a bottle-neck showing astopper therethe end of the stopper. Fig. 4 is a central Verticalsection of a bottle-heeh, a cork therein, the holding-bar over the cork,and a-n implement for expanding the holding-bar into en gagenent withthe shoulders within the bottle-neek. Fig. 5 is the same View of thebottle-noch, cork, and holding-iiar, together with an iinplement 'forcontracting the holding-har, so as to release the latter froniengagement with the shoulders in the bottle neck preparatory to thewithdrawai. ot' the coi-k.

A represcuts the holding-bar or simp erholder as an entirety. It iscomposed of two plates, B and (i, the forner being a fiat piece of sheetmetal l'aring its lateral edges b b parallel. with each other and itsends 7/ 7./ curved, particularly in the case of its adaptation for smallorifices like those of bottlenecks, to conform with the curvature of theorificc to which it is to be applied. The piate C is also of sheetmetal, having its lateral margins c e turned over the parallel edges b Iof the part B, thus forning guides in which the part B may movelengthwise upon or within the orerfolded plate C. The piate B is proSerial No. i-,005. No model.)

Vided with a lengthwise siot, IP, allowably, though not necessarily,open at one end, as shown. The plate C is also provided with a slot, c',which coineides laterally with the slotb when the paris are placedtogether. These slots are so arranged that when the part s B and C arejoined, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the end Z) of the slot b and theend 0 of the slot c' form ends of a hole passing through both plates;but the slot in each plate extends beyond the inner end of the slot ofthe other plate, so that an instrument inserted in the hole and made topress out against the ends b and 0 will force the plates endwise withrespect to each other, and thus longitudinally extend the bar. Anysuitable means for thus expanding the holdin g-bar may be employedas,for example, a flat triangularly-pointed instrument like that shown inFig. i, which, when a cork is used is thrust through the hole forncd bythe Slots of the plates B and C, as above described, and it enters itsinclined sides wedge apart the bottons oi' the siots and expand the bar.

To insert the device thus construeted, it collapsed lengthwise, as shownin Fig. 1, and dropped into the bottle-neck or other orifice over thestopper which has been previously inserted thei-ein to a point below theshoulders in said orifice. Then by means of the inplement D, (shown inFig. 4,) or by means of any other suitable expander, the holdingbar A islengthened by causing the parts B and C to slide outwardly one upon theother. so as to engage the shoulders within the orifice. In thisposition and thus engaged it will resist the pressure froni the interierupon the stopper and retain the latter 'in place.

F represents a bottle or any other Vesscl having an oriIce, f, to bestopped, and f* f' represent opposite shoulders in the inner walls ofthe nec-k to engage with the stopper-holding' bar described. Saidopposite shouldcrs f'f' are preterably part-s of? an annnlar groovearound the interier of the orifice, so that the shoulders are continuouswith each other, and no care need be taken to insert the. holdingilll'\in any part icula' position to engage said shoulders.

The coi-k or siopper is shown at (i.

To facilitate the renoval of the holdingplate, I provide one of theparts, B or C, with IOO a hole, notcl, or short open slot in one endthereof-as, for example, the slot 0 in the part C. This slot is deepenough or so situated as to be Visible when the part containing it isthrust beneath the shoulder of the orifice, and to contraet the holderout of engagenent with said shoulder any suitable pointed instrument-as,for example, a spur, E, 011 the end of a` corkserew-hmdle, E' may bethrust into the hole or slot 0 and by a prying movement against the sideof the orifice or bottleneck the part containing the slot will be slidlmck ont of engagement with the adjacent shoulder, so that the holdermay, as *(L whole, be easily removed.

I claim as ny in Ventioni 1. The conbination, with :i Vessel having anorice to be stopped, provided with opposite interior shonlders, of astopper-holder eonposed of two intorlocked pm'ts which slide J 2. Astopperholcler eonposed of the conx nccted sliding` parts B and C andprovided with centrally coincident Slots which overlap each other attheir ends, whereby the parts m ay be expanded by outward pressure'onthe ends of the Slots to cngage the shoulders of the orfice to which theholder is to be applied, substantially as described.

3. The connected and relativelysliding parts B and C, adapted to engagethe shoulders of :i bottle-neck or other vessel-orifice, one of i saidpart s being provided with the hole or slot d for the admission of apoint for the contrtction of the holder, snbstantially as dei scribed.

i In testinony that I claim thevforegoing as ny invention I affix niysignature in'presence I of two witnesses.

JOSIAS J. SANDS.

upon each other, whereby the holder may be expanded to engage theshoulders of the Ori I fice and retraeted to disengage theni, substan- 1tially as described.

`Witnessesc M. E. DAYTON, P. H. T. MAsoN.

